Can opener



June 12, 1928. 1,673,258

D. MGPHEE CAN OPENER Filed Oct. 20, 1926 INVENTOR DOUG/LO M-FHEE AT TORNEYS Patented June 12, 1928.

UNITED STATES DOUGALD MoPI-IEE, or VANCOUVER, imrrrs'rr COLUMBIA, CANADA.

CAN OPENER.

Application filed October 20, 1926. Serial No. 142,962.

My invention relates to improvements in can openers the objects of which are to provide means whereby the edge of the cutter is forcibly driven into the can wall below the rim; to provide means carried by the cutter for advancing the can wall to the cutter; for providing ratchet means to enable the cutter to be mounted and operated in restricted quarters, and for steadying the can whilst being opened. I

The invention consists essentially of a can opener having a guide roller adapted to bear against the inner edge of the rim of the can, a rotary cutter having an operating crank and ratchet means interposed between the crank and the cutter, eccentric means for moving the cutter to pierce the can wall, and means for steadying the can during the opening process, as will be more fully described in the following specification, in

which 5- Fig. 1 is a plan view of the opener.

Fig. 2 is a. plan view of the opener showing the eccentric mounting of the cutter shaft.

Fig. 3 is a side view with the cutter moved into cutting position.

In the drawing like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in each 5w figure.

The numeral 1 indicates generally a frame member having an inner end 2, which is preferably formed with a depending memher 3 having a clamping screw 4 by which the opener may be readily attached to the edge 5 of a table. The outer end of the frame 1 is downwardly turned as at 6 to form a stop, which is adapted to bear upon the can top to prevent the can from tilting under the cutting influence of the device.

Adjacent the stop 6 the inner end of the underside of the frame member 1 is inclined as at 7 and is fitted with a roller 8 having a bevelled peripheral face 9 which is adapted to engage the inner edge of the rim 10 of the can 11 and which is adapted to present a vertical face thereto, for the purpose of forming a firm abutment close to the point where the cutting effort is applied.

, The numeral 12, see Figure 2, indicates a sleeve mounted below a lever 13 which is provided with a stop pin 14, which is adapted to come to rest against one side of the frame 1 to limit the rotation of the sleeve w 12. The sleeve 12 is eccentrically bored and forms a journal for a cutter shaft 15 having a knurled roller 16 and a disc cutter 17 secured to its lower end. On the upper end of the cutter shaft a crank 18 is freely mounted and a ratchet 19 is secured. The crank 18 is provided with a handle 20 at its outer end and is fitted with a spring tensioned pawl 21 adjacent its inner end which is adapted to operatively engage the ratchet 19.

An obvious change in the construction would be to provide the inner end of the frame 1 with a handle by which it could be firmly gripped by one hand and to substitute for the crank 18 a cross bar or turn button which could be readily turned by the other hand.

Having thus described the several parts of my invention I will now briefly explain its use.

As the lever 13 is swung in an anti-clockwise direction the eccentrically mounted shaft 15 is moved to withdraw the cutter 17 away from the roller 8. The can to be opened is then placed in position with its upper rim projecting between the roller and the cutter and with the stop 6 in bearing contact with the can top. The lever 13 is then moved in a clockwise direction carrying the cutter forward to pierce the can immediately below the rim 10 and below the abutment formed by the peripheral face 9 of the roller 8, this movement also brings the knurled roller 16 into driving engagement with the can rim, so that as the crank 18 is turned in a clockwise direction, direct driving force is imparted to the can rim and the cutter is caused to sever the can wall to permit the can top to be removed.

By providing the crank 18 with ratchet 95 means the device may be effectively used in a very limited space such as would preclude the complete rotation of the crank.

It will be noticed that the rotation of the crank in a clockwise direction tends towards 100 holding the cutter in cutting contact with the can.

What I claim as my invention is:

A can opener comprising a frame member provided with a vertical opening, a roller 105 journalled to the underside of the frame member at one side of said opening, a sleeve rotatable in said opening and having a handle member attached thereto, said sleeve having an eccentrically located bore, a shaft 110 passing through said bore, a cutting disc secured to rtheflower end of the shaft, :1 knurled 'fee'd "roller fit.ted on the-shaft between the cutting disc and the lower-endof 5 the sleeve -a ratchet Wheel-carriedby the upper end of the shaft and a leverloosly pivoted to the upper portion of the-:zshaft "sha ft.

and provided with a pawl engagable with the ratchet Wheel to :efiect retationr of the -Dated at Vancouver, B. 0., this 13th day t of October, 1926.

DOUGALD MCPHEE. 

